Mother attacked baby.

[hughesSMFD]

So about 24 hours ago my Mosaic, Missy, gave birth to 2 beautiful little girls. One standard and the other mosaic. At one point during the night the standard got out of the cage. My girlfriend and I search my house for the better part of the evening, not going to bed until pure exhaustion forced us to. But this morning I was awakened by the feeling of little whiskers on my face as my girlfriend held it. She saw it out of the corner of her eye when she woke up this morning. So here's the really bad part.

We put the baby back in the cage with mother and sister, she quickly went to mama to feed. Missy let her feed for a while. But then she attacked her! We didn't know what to think about what she was doing. But now my girlfriend is holding the little baby in her hands attempting to do whatever she can to nurse what appears to be a head wound above her right eye. (between her eye and ear) :cry3:

What the $#%@?!?!?! I’m not entirely sure what I'm looking for here, except maybe a little understanding as to why Missy would let the baby feed and then try to kill it? :cry3:

 

[rcr]

Is it possible that the kit smelled like another chinchilla (hiding under or near a different cage) and so the mother did not recognize it? So sorry. Might want to watch carefully for signs of shock and have some pedialyte on hand just in case.

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

I agree. Mom didn't recognize her kit because it smelled different. I don't think I would trust her with the kit.

 

[hughesSMFD]

Is it possible that the kit smelled like another chinchilla (hiding under or near a different cage) and so the mother did not recognize it?

My girlfriend did find it crawling out of the fathers cage. So it highly possible that Missy didn't recognize the baby due to the smell.

 

[addictedtochins]

Maybe if you swipe a little vanilla on mom and kit's nose they will smell the same. Breeders, what do you think?

 

[Laurie]

I agree that mom did not recognize the smell of her baby. The vanilla idea sounds like a sound one, Susan.
Bottom line is you need to make the cage baby safe by getting window mesh around it so the babies can not get out. Second you need to monitor baby and mom together. You need to have constant monitoring of these two to make sure mom accepts her ad will care for her. And if mom does not take to baby you will have to hand feed the baby yourself.

 

[tunes]

Grab a bunch of mom's pee shavings and rub them all over the kit and the other kit. Then put her back in with mom and stay close by and make sure everything is alright.

Don't do vanilla. That's just another strange smell right now with a wired mom and an injured kit. Make the smell familiar, not new.

Any time I want to foster a kit, they get a good rub in the dirty shavings and in they go.

 

[addictedtochins]

Oh, that's good idea I haven't heard before

 

[Chinniechantel]

That is funny Tunes but I do the same thing. I rub them in dirty shavings and then rub them on the new mom's back. Seems to work like a charm.

 

[hughesSMFD]

Thank you all very much for the suggestions. However now our concerns have taken a big shift to whether or not the baby is going to survive. We wrapped the kit in a clean flannel pillow case to keep it warm. It is breathing, but not really moving at all. Every now and then the kit moves its legs a little, kind of like it is trying to jump around, but not its head. It's not looking good.

 

[tunes]

Aww, the poor little thing. He's most likely in shock from the attack.

Try massaging him gently all up and down his body to stimulate blood flow. Keep him cuddled and warm too, and try hand feeding him if he'll take it. If you have any Lifeline handy, now would be the time to use it.

 

[hughesSMFD]

Aww, the poor little thing. He's most likely in shock from the attack.

Try massaging him gently all up and down his body to stimulate blood flow. Keep him cuddled and warm too, and try hand feeding him if he'll take it. If you have any Lifeline handy, now would be the time to use it.

Ok I am still new to this. What do you mean when you say LifeLine?

 

[Sandi]

Lifeline is a supplement. You can get it here - http://chocolatechinchillas.com/_wsn/page6.html

Dawnna’s Chinchilla Life Line

Life Line will Speed Healing, Ease Stomach & GI pain, and Increase Appetite while it helps to fight the problems that cause symptoms such as infection, diarrhea, indigestion, nausea, and poor appetite. Life Line is a Nutrient Rich powder loaded with Digestive Enzymes, so it takes minimal effort to digest and is absorbed very quickly allowing the body more Strength & Energy to Heal. The large amount of Probiotic helps to undo the damage done by antibiotics, by Killing Damaging Bacteria that cause inflammation in the GI Tract. The Natural Herbs included Boost the Immune System, balance PH levels (Bringing the body out of Acidosis!), aid in digestion, increase appetite, and decrease the pain & discomfort caused by systemic infection by slightly anesthetizing mucous membranes in the GI tract. Life Line attacks the CAUSE of the symptoms - Not just the symptoms alone!

 

[starleomach]

How is the kit now? If he is still hanging in there If you aren't already make sure you are getting food into the little one with an eyedropper.

 

[AZChins]

Does Dawnna still sell the Kit Life Line? That stuff is great for little babies having problems. I bought a jar and it will last me forever because so little needs to be used.

I hope the little chin is alright. The little ones can actually sustain a lot of damage and make it through without any scarring at all.

 

[starleomach]

I do believe she does. I didn't see it on her webpage but I bet she would mix some up.

 

[Rickman]

When I had a Mother almost kill a 6 wk. old female, I used regular LifeLine, and she pulled through perfectly!!
Amazing stuff - - -

 

[starleomach]

The 6 week old would be fine with plain lifeline. A younger baby needs milk. Many breeders do wean kits at 6 weeks. they can be ok without mom at that point. I prefer 8 weeks but I have had emergencies before where 6 weeks they got pulled

 

[Cuddlebug]

Poor thing. How is he doing? I can't add anything more helpful than what you've already been told, but I do hope that the kit is getting better.

 

[hughesSMFD]

Im very sad to report that both the little kits have passed. The standard, the one mom attacked, lasted until very early this morning. She feed a little bit from the dropper, but we think it was only a matter of time.

Im sure some of you are a little thrown by my first sentence that both kits are dead. My girlfriend and I have no idea what the $%#& happened. We were taking turns with the injured girl and everything seemed fine with momma and the mosaic kit. Then very late Saturday night I noticed it laying in the middle of the cage. I picked her up and realized that her left arm had been chewed off almost all the way to her 'shoulder'. (In case I didn't mention it before, the mosaic lost its left front paw when it was born.) The last time we checked in on them she (mosaic) still had 3/4 of her left leg. When I picked her up Saturday night her left front leg was almost gone.

So at this point we had them both out of the cage and were trying to hand feed them. The standard seemed to be eating a little, but the mosaic (I think) was too deep in shock to feed. So... The mosaic kit passed late Saturday night and the standard let go around 4 or 5 this morning.

This was my first experience with babies. My girlfriends Chins just had their 3rd litter (2 girls as well) and everything is going fine with them. But neither one of us have had an experience like this.

I don't think we handeled them too much. For the most part we left them alone and just observed. The only time we really picked them up was when I noticed that the mosaic was missing a paw. So we picked both of them up to look them over. After that was when the standard kit escaped the cage and got lost in my apartment for the night... And so the story goes. Do things like this happen a lot? Because if so, I don't know if I could take holding 2 little babies as they take thier last breaths again...